Door frame assembly and method for making same



Sept. 30, 1969 H. LANGE 3,469,350

DOOR FRAME ASSEMBLY AND METHOD FOR MAKING SAME Filed Sept. 14, 1967 FlG1 u La INVENTOR.

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ATTORNEYS HERBERT LANGE" United States Patent 3,469,350 DOOR FRAMEASSEMBLY AND METHOD FOR MAKING SAME Herbert Lange, San Mateo, Calif.,assignor to Soule Steel Company, San Francisco, Calif., a corporation ofCalifornia Filed Sept. 14, 1967, Ser. No. 667,682

I Int. Cl. E06b 1/18 U.S. Cl. 49-504 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSUREA door frame assembly in which a head bar having depending tabs isfastened to the jamb bars and the jamb bars secured within overlappingflanges on the head bar. The jamb bars are provided with a raised outerlip and a parallel raised shoulder, the lips being notched to receivedoor hinge butts and a lock strike which abut the raised shoulders.

This invention relates to door frame assemblies and more particularly toa novel extruded metal door frame and method of making such a frame.

Extruded metal door frames have become particularly popular in recentyears, being widely employed in modern building construction. They aregenerally easily installed in rough openings in the partitions. Sincethey are usually extruded from aluminum, they are pleasing in appearanceand the metal lends itself to various color treatments well-known in theart in addition to the usual painting.

One of the continuing problems associated with the use of such doorframes, however, is the installation of the door hinges to the jambs andthe lock strike on the opposite jamb which usually requires mortising,that is, cutting out recesses to accommodate the hinge butts and thelock strike. A number of solutions have been proposed, including the useof cover plates between the hinge butts such as in US. Patent No.3,287,856 or of a separate plate to which the hinge butts are aflixedsuch as in US. Patent No. 2,910,154.

The present invention was designed to eliminate the necessity for thesupplemental pieces required by the prior art devices in the mounting ofhinge butts to the jamb. This is accomplished in the presentconstruction by the provision of a raised lip along the outer edge ofthe jamb member together with a raised shoulder parallel to the lipagainst which the edge of the hinge butt will rest which together form achannel along the jamb. All that is required for installation of thehinge is a milling out of a notch in the raised lip to permit the hingebutt to be fitted in the notch and against the raised shoulder.

Still another problem associated with the use of prior art door frameassemblies is the lack of rigidity of the assembly when the jamb membersare assembled with the head member. In the present construction thisrigidity is assured by the use of formed tabs integral with the headmember which may be bolted directly to the jamb members. There isfurther provided in the present construction a novel arrangement whichpermits the outer edges of the jamb members to be secured within theflanges of the head member so that the three constituents of the frameform a rigid unit.

Still another feature of the present construction is the 3,469,350Patented Sept. 30, 1969 provision on the jambs of a door stop flangehaving a removable cover section. This permits the screws or bolts usedto aflix the jambs in the wall opening to be concealed. This results ina door frame completely free from exposed fasteners.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a vertical section through a typical head member;

FIG. 2 is a horizontal section through a typical hinge jamb member;

FIG. 3 is a horizontal section through a typical strike jamb member;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged isometric view of the ends of a head member andhinge jamb member showing how the two are assembled together;

FIG. 5 is a horizontal section through a hinge jamb member showing theplacement of a hinge and door;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary view of the joint between a head member and jambmember showing how the jamb is engaged by the flanges of the headmember; and

FIG. 7 is an isometric View of a hinge jamb showing the placement of ahinge butt.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing in which similarcharacters of reference represent corresponding parts in each of theseveral views, FIG. 1 is the head member or head bar shown generally at10. The head bar comprises face flange l1 and a parallel rear flange 12joined together by the connecting web 13. In the head bar the door stopflange which is perpendicular to the bottom surface of connecting web 13comprises a cover section 14 having an integral groove 15 therein withinwhich a mohair, plastic or rubber draft stop may be mounted. The doorstop flange section 14 is snapped into place by means of longitudinaltongues 16 and 17. Flanges 11 and 12 of the head bar 10 extend past theconnecting web 13, forming retaining flanges 18, the function of whichwill be described in detail below.

The vertical portions of the door frame assembly are the hinge jambmember or hinge bar 20 shown in FIG. 2 and the strike jamb member orstrike bar 30 shown in FIG. 3. The hinge bar comprises a face flange 21and a parallel rear flange 22 joined by a connecting web 23. Formedintegrally with and perpendicular to the web 23 of the hinge bar is stopflange 24 which has a continuous groove 25 formed therein for receivingthe mohair draft stop previously mentioned. The door stop flange iscompleted by means of cover section 26 which is snapped into place andsecured by appropriately formed tongues 27. An integral part of thehinge bar is shoulder 28 which is parallel to the face flange 21 andraised from the surface of the web a distance equal to the thickness ofa typical door hinge butt. A raised lip 29 is parallel to the shoulder28 and a continuation of the front flange 21. The lip forms the outeredge of the jamb. The raised lip 29 and shoulder 28 together define achannel the depth of which is equal to the thickness of a hinge butt.The elevation of the lip 29 is also equal to that of the thickness of atypical hinge butt. Lip 29 will be notched out to receive the hinge buttso that the edge of the hinge butt abuts shoulder 28 and is receivedsecurely within the notch.

In order to make provision for screwing the hinge butts to the jamb bar,the section 43 of web 23 which lies between the shoulder 28 and the lip29 is of substantially greater thickness than the balance of the web inorder to permit a sufficient number of threads to be formed within themetal in order to securely hold the hinges in place.

The strike jamb member or strike bar 30 corresponds in most respects tothe hinge bar 20. The strike bar is adapted to receive the strike plate,that is, the plate which receives within it the lock bolt which holdsthe door closed. The strike bar comprises a face flange 31 and aparallel rear flange 32 joined by connecting web 33. Formed as anintegral part of web 33 is the stop flange 34 which is formed with slot35 to receive the draft stop therein. The stop flange is completed bymeans of the boxlike cover plate 36 which snaps into appropriate groovesby means of longitudinal tongues 37. The strike bar 30 is also formedwith a longitudinal shoulder 38 parallel to the side flanges andelevated from the surface of the web 33 a distance equal to the usualthickness of the strike plate which is to be affixed to the strike jamb.Strike bar 30 is also formed with raised lip 39 a continuation of theface flange 31 forming a channel similar to that on the hinge bar. Lip39 is milled out a sufficient width to accommodate the strike platerequired for the particular door to be assembled in the frame assembly.

FIG. 4 shows the method of assembling the jamb bars and head bar. Thehead bar 10 is provided with a tab member 19 which is formed as part ofthe connecting web 13 and bent downward perpendicular to the connectingweb 13. The head bar 10 fits securely over the end of the jamb bar 20,the side flanges 21 and 22 being received within the retaining flanges18 of the head bar. The head bar 10 is provided with tab member 19 atboth its ends. When these tab members are formed, the distance betweentheir inner faces is established to close tolerances. This establishesthe exact door opening which will result from the use of that head bar.Tab 19 fits against the inner surface of connecting web 23 and is boltedsecurely to the jamb members 20 and 30 to form the frame assembly. FIG.6 shows how the parts fit together, with the flanges 21 and 22 locked inplace between retaining flanges 18 of the head bar and with tab 19bolted to the jamb member.

The bolting of the tab 19 to the jamb is done with the stop flangecovers 26 and 36 removed. These covers are among the last parts to beassembled since the jambs, when they are placed in the door opening,must be screwed to the studding in the walls. Such screws are shown indash line form in FIGS. 2 and 3. After the jambs and the head bar areassembled together, the stop flange cover plates 26 and 36 are snappedinto place therefore concealing the screw heads from view.

FIGS. and 7 show a hinge 40 fastened into place on a jamb bar. The lip29 is milled out a width suflicient to accommodate the hinge butts 41,the standard butt being four inches in height. The hinge butt 41 maythen be slipped through the lip 29 to abut the shoulder 28. Appropriateholes are then drilled and tapped through the web section 43 and screwsinserted through the hinge butt 41 to firmly affix the hinge to the jambbar. The other hinge butt 42 is fastened to the door 44.

As may be seen in FIG. 5, the door 44 is spaced a short distance fromthe face of stop flange 24. That space is filled by a mohair or otherresilient material draft stop 45 inserted into the slot 25 on the hingejamb bar. Such weather stripping is also inserted into slots 15 and 35in the jamb and head bars to make a continuous draft stop around theperimeter of the door.

The result of the use of the present invention is a rigid door frameassembly which is easily assembled and installed in a wall opening andwhich has no exposed assembly screws.

Although the foregoing invention has been described in some detail byway of illustration and example for purposes of clarity ofunderstanding, it is understood that certain changes and modificationsmay be practiced within the spirit of the invention as limited only bythe scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A door frame assembly comprising a head member, a jamb member adaptedto receive a hinge butt, and a jamb member adapted to receive a lockstrike, said head member having at least one depending flange member forengaging an end of a jamb member and holding said jamb member inalignment therewith, said head member provided with means for fasteningsaid head member to a jamb member, said hinge jamb member having asurface for receiving door hinge butts, said surface defined by a raisedlip along an outer edge of the member and by a raised shoulder parallelthereto and spaced from said raised lip, said raised lip having a notchwhose depth extends to said hinge receiving surface, the length of saidnotch being suflicient to receive the hinge butt therein, the height ofthe raised lip above the hinge butt receiving surface and the height ofthe shoulder above said surface equal to the thickness of the hinge butreceived thereon.

2. The door frame assembly of claim 1 and wherein the head member isprovided with a pair of depending parallel flange members extendingsubstantially the length of the head member and wherein said fasteningmeans comprises a pair of downward extending tab members at the oppositeends of said head member, said tab members spaced apart a fixed distanceso that the jamb members will be spaced apart a dimension defining adoor opening when fastened thereto, and said parallel flanges spacedapart a dimension equal to the depth of said jamb members for securelyengaging the outer edges of the jamb members therebetween.

3. The door frame assembly of claim 1 and wherein the strike jamb memberhas a surface for receiving a lock strike, said surface defined by araised lip along an outer edge of the member and by a raised shoulderparallel thereto and spaced from said raised lip, said strike jamb liphaving a notch whose depth extends to the strike receiving surface, thelength of the notch being suflicient to receive the look strike therein,the height of the strike jamb lip above the lock strike receivingsurface and the height of the shoulder above said surface equal to thethickness of the lock strike received thereon.

4. A method for assembling a door frame comprising:

(a) providing a head member having first and second flanges in parallelspaced relation joined by a connecting web normal thereto; a hinge jambmember having a channel formed therein with a generally flat bottom andperpendicular sides, the depth of said channel being equal to thethickness of a hinge butt, one side of said channel defining an outeredge of said jamb; and a strike jamb member having a strike channelformed therein with a generally flat bottom and perpendicular sides, thedepth of said strike channel being equal to the thickness of a lockstrike, one side of said strike channel defining an outer edge of saidstrike jamb;

(b) assembling said head and jamb members so that the outer edges ofsaid jambs are received within the first and second flanges of the headmember;

(c) removing a portion of said channel defining outer edge of the strikejamb so that a lock strike may be received therein; and

(d) removing a portion of said channel defining outer edge of the hingejamb so that a hinge butt may be received within the removed edgesection.

5. The method of claim 4 and wherein said head memher is provided withfirst and second depending tab members generally orthogonal with respectto the flanges and web thereof and (a) fastening said jambs between saidtab members.

'6. The method of claim 4 and wherein said jamb members are providedwith door stop flanges comprising a rib generally parallel to thechannel and cover means adapted for engagement with the rib and (a)fastening said jambs into a wall opening by insert- 5 6 ing fasteningmeans through said jambs adjacent said 3,270,477 9/1966 Johnston 56-656XR stop flange rib, and 3,310,920 3/1967 Bell et a1. 49-504 XR (b)engaging said cover means with said rib so that 3,324,599 6/1967 Brost49505 the fastening means are concealed.

R f C1 6 5 KENNETH DOWNEY, Primary Examiner e erences 1 e UNITED STATESPATENTS US. Cl. X.R.

2,652,907 9/1953 Miller 49 s04 52-413 2,726,745 12/1955 Quinn 49-399

